Artificial intelligence curriculum for primary and secondary schools
AI in Informatics at the 1st level
Ju and Pi in the universe of words
Language Models
Lessons 08
Language models
Ju and Pi found themselves today in a vast and somewhat mysterious universe of words. Each word has its own place here, and is surrounded by many other words that are somehow related. And, as it turns out, even ordinary word-clubs can get the circuits pretty tangled! Their mission? To help Cat Cat, who is looking sad, and find out what can cheer her up. And they may also discover that the most important thing is not just choosing the right words, but how and to whom we dedicate them.
How the lesson works
The lesson begins with a story in which the robots Ju and Pi find themselves in a "universe of words" - a vast space where every word has its place and is related to other words. Their task is to find out why their cat, Puss, is sad, and they try to find the answer using a language model. The teacher leads a discussion about how language models work - that they learn from large amounts of text and generate answers based on the probability of words occurring. Children try a simple game of adding words to a story, where they recognise that different choices can lead to different meanings. In a hands-on activity, they create their own "word universe" where they connect pictures and words according to their proximity in meaning, learning the principles of how language models organize information. If there is time left over, the lesson continues by experimenting with a chatbot, where students check how the models generate responses and discuss why they may sometimes produce nonsensical or incorrect sentences. Finally, children reflect on their knowledge of language models, their possibilities and limitations, and realize the importance of critical thinking when working with generative AI.
Information about lessons
Subsidies and years
45-90 minutes, grades 3-5 Elementary school
Aids
Teacher: projection equipment, presentation to show, account in text generating application
Students: writing utensils, glue, quarter, printed worksheets
Building stones
Language model
What pupils learn
A language model is a program that has learned from many texts how people communicate. But sometimes it generates the wrong things.
Why is it taught
Based on their understanding of how language models work, they critically assess the outputs of generative intelligence.
How do we know if they've learned
They will describe in their own words how the language model works and explain why it can generate incorrect things.
Outputs of the RVP
Informatics:
Data, Information, Modeling:
I-5-1-03 reads information from the given model
Digital competences
Benefits and development - understands the importance of digital technologies for human society, learns about new technologies, critically evaluates their benefits and reflects on the risks of their use.
Bloom's taxonomy
Understanding: students will describe the principle of a language model and explain why it can generate incorrect things.
Creating: they will create their simplified model.
Five Big Ideas
4-B-I Common sense reasoning
